Super Mario Marks a Quarter Century

Generations are celebrating twenty five years of gaming fun, as Super Mario marks a quarter of a century. Does that make you feel old, or bring back memories of being young? Kids around the world have grown up playing Super Mario games.

Back in the 80?s, Nintendo lost its license to create a video game based on the Popeye universe. However, they retained the concepts and populated a game with a new set of characters. Shigeru Miyamoto morphed Popeye into Jumpman, later renamed Mario, and Nintendo introduced him in the arcade version of Donkey Kong. The little plumber with a big moustache is said to have been named after the gaming company?s Italian landlord whom he resembled. Mario, the Italian looking protagonist is known in the country of his origin as – ???. He spends life defending Mushroom World from villains, such as Bowser, with the help of his brother Luigi and their partner Yoshi. They have been quite successful at what they do ? winning the hearts of gamers worldwide. Super Mario was the best-selling game of all time until Wii Sports surpassed it.

Mario had a long run on the Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. After reaching 60 million worldwide unit sales, Nintendo discontinued the U.S. version of the console. The Japanese model wasn?t discontinued until nearly 10 years later in 2003.

The Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Editionis being released on the Wii. The Japanese version, Super Mario Collection Special Pack [????????????? ????????], was released in Japan on October 21 and will be available in Europe on December 3. North America and Australia must anxiously await their versions of the game. A history booklet covering Mario from 1985 ? 2010 and a CD with soundtracks from several Mario games is included.

New versions of Wii and the DSi XL handheld in bright red are being released to accompany the celebration in early November. The Wii features a new Wii Remote Plus controller, a red Nunchuk, and the chart topping Wii Sports at $199.99. The DSi XL bundle also has preloaded software from Brain Age Express at $179.99.

Super Mario is everywhere. On-line games have mushroomed [pardon the pun]. Merchandise exploded. Backpacks, phones, beach towels, tee shirts, key chains, caps, mouse pads, plush dolls, wallets, and of course, lunch boxes. And with Halloween coming, Super Mario will take time out of crime fighting to go trick and treating.

The original game sold 40.24 million units worldwide. The series has expanded over the years. Nintendo designer and creator of Mario, Shigeru Miyamoto said: "Stimulated by advancements in technologies, we have always enjoyed developing the Super Mario Bros. Series.The Super Mario Bros. series has always taken advantage of the latest technologies and is the fruit of the creativity of a number of my hard-working friends working as a team."